Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Who really needs a gun anyway, right? You’re more likely to be shot with your own gun or … let’s just stop it, shall we? In Pennsylvania, the owner of a music shop found himself in a tight spot when an intruder came in, attacked him and then went after his wife. That’s a pretty bad day for anyone… including the robber.

A music store owner shot and killed a man who walked into the store and tried to attack him and his wife on Saturday afternoon in Bethel Park.Police and medics said they were dispatched to Armen’s House of Music on Library Road at 12:17 p.m. for a reported stabbing/shooting.Silvia Armen said her husband, Alfred Armen, came to her rescue when an intruder attacked her with a wooden night stick in the music store she and her husband own.
The police report indicates that the intruder, one Andrew Moore, first attacked Mr. Armen, injuring him. But when he went after his wife, Silvia, enough was enough. Armen drew his firearm, shot and killed the intruder. Alfred is in the hospital being treated for head injuries, but it sounds like Mrs. Armen is doing okay, mental trauma aside.

These are the stories that never get reported in the national media because they don’t support the meme being pushed by second amendment opponents. All’s well that ends well, so it remains a local story only, never mentioned on the floors of Congress. But the nearly tragic story of Mr. and Mrs. Armen’s music store boils down to one thing and one thing only:

After adjustment, individuals in possession of a gun were 4.46 (P < .05) times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession. Among gun assaults where the victim had at least some chance to resist, this adjusted odds ratio increased to 5.45

Compared to homes without guns, the presence of guns in the home is associated with a 3-fold increased homicide risk within the home. The risk connected to gun ownership increases to 8-fold when the offender is an intimate partner or relative of the victim and is 20 times higherwhen previous domestic violence exists.

Would Mr. Armen been prevented from owning a gun if background checks had been expanded to include gun shows and internet purchases? No, but it might make it harder for criminals and the mentally unstable to get one.

Well, it would be tough to convince either Glenn or Joe that asking for background checks at gun show wouldn't be the first step toward inevitable confiscation.

Sensible point of sale regulation is only the first step toward "blue helmets" confiscating all firearms.

Of course people are aware that firearms possession for self protection does stop some home invasions but Joe will persist in the notion that without the news driving that point home like an NRA outlet we are liable to look at the true stats on firearms ownership and make our own ownership decisions.

The problem is that these statistics could include ANY situation, such as gang member against gang member. Which is what organizations such as that could care less about when making statistics. "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Notice also that the issue of partner violence, it says that it is in cases where violence already exists - and there is no way they can have total numbers of homes with firearms. This is what is so fallacious about such states - thousands of homes with firearms are not included because they just come up with some statistic to cover them all. In the past 45 years or so, since I was a teen, I have known hundreds of people with firearms in their homes - perhaps even a thousand. Not a single one every had their firearm used against family members.

Stats like these are just made up out of whole cloth based on limited information, just so they can decry firearm ownership.

And people like you are the gullible types who cite them as "proof" of your agenda.

Memo to liberals! remember you jerkoffs were howling at the moon when Sara Palinstepped down as governor of Alaska? Your hero Barack Hussein Obama is a beaten man!If you have doubts about being president!! you aren't fit to command!Especially commander in chief of the US armed forces! There can be no doubt in that area! If your not up to the job, then get out!

Joe - In 57 years, my home has never been invaded, I don't anticipate my home will ever be invaded, it's not something I dwell and obsess over like you and G.E.C. apparently do.

On the list of risks that I concern myself with and prepare for, a home invasion falls somewhere between being killed by a wayward chunk of space debris reentering the atmosphere and Godzilla rising from the ocean, heading west instead of east and making it all the way to the midwest.

I cannot imagine living life in such a state of constant fear and paranoia like you people do. What a horrible, pathetic existence that would be.

"THE ENEMIES! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! THEY'RE ALL AROUND US! CAN'T TRUST ANYONE! MUST BE SAFE! I'M SURROUNDED BY SIN, CORRUPTION AND SUPERNATURAL EVIL BENT ON DESTROYING THE WORLD!"

Wow. Good luck with all that. I'm too busy living my life in reality to get sucked into that vortex of nonsense.

X.O.I am not paranoid about home invasion. Never had that problem either, although during the ATC strike of 1981 when I refused to strike the Union threatened to burn my house and I stated I would be standing by with my Mini-14 and a 30-round magazine - and that was the end of that - no more threats!

However, it is a fact of life that in some neighborhoods break-ins are routine (I used to live in such an area), so it wasn't paranoia which kept a weapon handy, rather it was preparedness.

You think just because you haven't encountered violence that it doesn't happen often enough to be prepared for? You are foolish.

No matter how often you are presented with a counter argument and a basis for debate you shut it down (along with the estimable Glenn) with, "You're wrong".

Glenn, where did you live?I live in a section exactly on the border of Boston proper where the primary language is ... Arabic, Creole, Portuguese, Italian, English ... depends on the situation. Home invasions are rare although I did have my car boosted. My guess is you'd be afraid to walk out the door unstrapped by I do every day. I like my neighbors.

I lived as a teen for a couple years in federal housing projects in Denver, CO. Lots of Mexican gang activity there. So I know what those neighborhoods are like. I escaped when my mother regained custody, and I got to live with her and her new husband until graduation from high school, at which time I entered the Army.

As an adult, I have lived in one of the lower income areas of Columbus, OH near OSU campus. Lots of crime in that area. After 2 1/2 years I moved to Aurora, IL in an apartment complex for about six months, and that section had frequent crime. While in Columbus and the apartment complex, I kept my handgun ready. I finally bought a house in a nice area, and then only readied my Mini-14 after threats from the union.

After eight years of living in my house the gangs began moving in to the area, bringing the associated crime. And I again kept my handgun ready. Kids walking to school across an open field came across a body of a guy killed in gang violence. We decided it was time to move on, and moved to a safer suburb (by this time my job allowed me to buy a more expensive place). That was in 1988. We have moved twice since, including to a new state, and so far have been in nice neighborhoods, so I don't worry about break-ins.

Not an "indiscriminate fire zone." It would have only been used if an intruder came in. And I never fire indiscriminately. Target must be identified, and the round would not miss.

Here's the thing. The important point of self-defense is to not investigate. The first thing, once armed, is to call for police. In the meanwhile, I would ensure the safety of my children. If there is a room to barricade in, that is good also. But once the intruder comes into my safe zone, he will not leave alive.

"Freedom" is a periodical distributed by the NRA. They have several articles of this nature, whereas people protected their lives and repelled a perpetrator because they were armed, in EVERY publication. 911 is useless when the glass breaks at 3AM. If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. For law abiding citizens, gun control simply means using both hands.

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